Dispensing container



. May 29, 1945 H. APFELB'AUM 2,377,120 l DISBENSING CONTAINER Filed March 19, 1942 MM, TNW WWW IUI,

7 LVMW 11M" |L= j 1"/4 2 43 42 45 ATTURNEY Patented May 29, 1945 UNITEDsinfrias PATENT OFFICE Huna LfApfelbaum, Brooklyn, N.

Victor Metal Products Corporation, N. Y., a corporation of New York Y., assignor to Brooklyn,

Application March 19, 1942, Serial No. 435,319

' vf1 Claims. v(Cl. 20G-42) This invention relates to pill boxes and particularly to that type from which a single pill at a time may be dispensed.

The invention contemplates the provision of a f box in which the pills are aligned in adjacent rows and thereby occupy a minimum amount of space while the pills are permitted to move readily from one storage row to the next or discharge row from which they may be readily discharged one at a time.

The invention further contemplates the provision of covering means for maintaining the pills against contamination and against the access of foreign matter or dust, while permitting such limited relative movement of the container part and cover part of the box as to enable the user to dispense a single pill from a discharge compartment without the necessity for handling the discharged pill. Y

The invention further contemplates the -provision of suitable means to prevent thebox from being opened more than a predetermined limited amount and to determine the arrangement ofthe pills in the box, whereby the exposed pill in the end of the discharge compartment may be discharged while a partly exposed pill at the corresponding end` of the storage compartment cannot be discharged but is retained in the` box as are the remaining pills. l

The various objects of the invention will be clear from the description which follows and from the drawing, in which,

Fig. 1 is a top plan view of the assembled box as it appears Awhen closed and protecting the contents.

.Fig. 2 is a front view of the same.

Fig. 3 is a top plan view of the same showing the box open to the full extent permitted, for the discharge of a single pill.

Fig. 4 is a top plan view of the container part of the boxshowing the pills in dash-dot lines.

Fig. 5 is a vertical section of the container part taken on the line 5--5 of Fig. 4. l

Fig. 6 is a top plan view of a `modified form or the assembled and closed box.

Fig. 7 is a front view of the same.

Fig. 8 is a top plan View of the container part of Figs and 7. I

Fig. 9 is a front view of the container part.

Fig. 10 is a perspective view of the box shown in Figs. 6 to 9, showing the box in open position.

In the practical embodiment of the invention shown by way of example, and referring particularly to Figs. 1 to 5, the box is made preferably of two parts, namely, the container part I0 and the cover part II. Each of said parts may be molded of suitable plastic material to form a onepiece box part,` or each partmay be made of any other suitable material, such as metal, paper or the like as may be found convenient, and of as many pieces as is necessary. The cover part I I is preferably made in the form of a generally rectangular tube having a top wall I2, a bottom wall I3, and opposed side walls I4 and I5 integrally joining the top and bot-tom. If desired, the cover part may also be provided with an end wall at one end thereof, the other end beingleft open for the slidable reception of the container part III. Said container part comprises the bottom wall 20, the opposed end walls 2 I, 22, and the opposed side walls 23, 24. Anupright partition as 25 extends upwardly from the ybottom wall and is arranged longitudinally of the box beginning at the end wall 2l thereof The partition is positioned midway between the side walls 23, 24 and is of a,

. length somewhat greater than twice the diameter of the pills 26, which are inserted into said container part and held therein preferably in two adjacent rows. The interior of the container part of the box is divided by the partition in two compartments, namely, a discharge compartment 30 for one row of pills on one side of the partition bounded by the side wall 23 and a storage compartment 3I for the remaining pills on the other side of the partition. The left ends of said compartments (as viewed in Fig. 4) communicate with each other, so that as pills are discharged from the discharge compartment through the discharge opening 29 in the side wall 23, the space r left is refilled by pills moving thereinto from the left end of the storage compartment past the free end of the partition 25. Said partition extends past the lef-t edge of the discharge opening so that pills from the storage compartment cannot pass directly to the discharge opening, but

.must first take a position in the discharge compartment to the left of any pills which may be adjacent said opening,

The partition is widened at its left or rear end to provide the extension 21, which is of sufficient height to project slightly through the longitudinal middle slot 28 in the top I2. The exposed or projecting part of the extension 21 serves as a finger grip or handle by means of which the discharge end of the container part Ipmay be drawn into or l pushed out of the inside of the cover part until further movement of the extension is halted by the engagement thereof with the rear end or forwardend of the slot as the case may be.

The length of the slot 28 and its arrangement is thereof through the opening 29 at the end of the side Wall 23. The last pill 33 inthe other compartment 3l of the container part, is however, only about half exposed. That' is, the top I2 of the cover part overhangs and 'covers In the form of the invention shownin Figs. 6 to 10, the slot 40 is made in the side wall 4| of the cover part instead of in its top as is the slot 28. The manipulating projection 42 extends from the side Wall 43 of the container part and passes through and reciprocates in the slot 40. The top of the box is thereby retained in its imperforate state and the good appearance of the box is unaffected.

In case the box is made of sheet material, the lug or projection 42 may be formed from material removed from the side Wall 43 as at 44 all of the pills in the compartments 30 and 3|,

except the last pill 26 in the discharge compartment 30 and half of the last pill 33 in the compartment 3l. On tilting the box to lower the wall 23 below thewall 24, the pill 26 is readily discharged through the opening 29, but the partly exposed pill 33 isretained in place in the container-by the cover top I2, and cannotfall out.

To position the pill 33 as-shown in Fig. 3 with the edge 32 of the top at about the middle of said pill 33, a stop as 34 is provided, preventing said pill from moving forwardly in the compartment 3l enough to reach the end wall 2|, and insuring the retention of part of the pill 33 underneath the top of the cover during the discharge of thev pill 26` and while the container part IU is pulled out as far as it will go'. The stop 34 may be pressed upwardly from the material of the bottom (Fig. 5) or molded integrally therewith or with the partition and side walls to projectupwardly far enough to engage the pill 33. A similar' stop as 35 may be provided near the opposite end of the compartment 3U (Fig. 4) to make both compartments the same effective length, said stop serving as a guide or diverting member insuring-the easy transfer of pills `from the storage compartment 3| to the discharge compartment 3U, said lstop 35 being spaced forwardly from the end wall 22 a distance preferably equaltothe radius of a pill. The same number of pills Will thereforebe received in they discharge compartment as 'in the storage compartment, so that when the pill 26 is discharged andthe box properly tilted, a pill from the storage compartment is directed into the discharge compartment by the stop 35, all the pills sliding down toward the discharge opening. Y

To operate the box,l it is opened by means of the extension 2l from the position of Fig l to that of Fig. 3, whereafter the box is tilted laterally and longitudinally so that the Wall 2l and the discharge opening 29 therein are lowermost. The pill 26 thereby drops out of the box', while the cover part Il cooperates with the stop 34 to hold the corresponding pill 33 in the storage compartment from dropping out. The container part Ill is then pushed back into the cover part. Ordinary handling of the box and the consequent movement ofthe pills therein causes the transfer of a pill to the compartment 30, which becomes filled with pills ready for the discharge of another pill. If the transfer does not occur without action bythe user, the tilting of theA box first sidewise and downwardly will lcarry a pill to a 'position adjacent the discharge opening, whereafter the box may be opened and the pill discharged.

(Figs. 8'and 9). Similarly, for the stops 34 and 35 may be substituted the corresponding stops 45 and 46 forming extensions of the side or end walls of the container part and terminating at points spaced from the adjacent end wall a distance about equal to the radius of a pill.

It willbe seen that I have provided a simple inexpensive box readily molded of plastic material oriormed of sheet material and ,holding the contentsfin the proper manner to permit easy dispensing of a single pill at a time, and that I have provided a box designed to accomplish the purposes of .the invention.

Any variation or modiicationfof the invention described above, not departing from the spirit of the invention, is intended to be included within the scope of the appended claims.-

I claim:

1.'In a dispensing container for pills, a tubular cover part open on at least one end and having a top wall, a bottom wall and opposed side Walls,` a container part having a bottom wall, opposed side; walls and opposed end walls, all of said walls being plane and of substantially uniform thickness throughout, said container part being slidably fitted into the cover part, means for limiting the relative slidable movement of the parts comprising a lug on the container partpassing through a slot of predetermined length in one of the walls of the cover part, said lug engaging the ends of the slot in the limiting open and closed positions of the parts, a xed longitudinal partition in the container part midway between and parallel to the side walls thereof and of less length than the length of said side walls, said partition dividing the container part into two longitudinal passages each for an aligned row of pills and preventing the discharge of pills from one passage, a xed stop member at the end of said one of the passages and between the partition and one side wall, a second fixed stop member at the opposite end of the other passage, the inner face of each of said stop members being spaced from the adjacentend wall of the container part a distance approximately half the veffective length of said slot, and thereby normally arranging the pills in the respective lpassages in transversely staggered relation, the length of the slot being substantially equal to the width of a pill `to be dispensed, said other passage having a discharge opening in the endpart of the other side wall,

the length of said opening being approximately the same as the eie'ctive length of said slot, whereby when the cover is open Aapproximately half of a pill in said one passage is exposed, a pill in the other passage is completely exposed and said vcompletely exposed'pill may be discharged by tilting the container transversely through an angle of less' than 90.

2. In arpill-dispensing container, a tubular cover pari-l having a longitudinal slot therein, a container part having an opentopslidably litted into the cover part, a projection on the container part passing through said slot and accessible for manual operation thereof to slide the container part out of the cover 'part to a limited extent and to retract the container part within the cover part, a fixed middle longitudinal partition in the container part of less `length than that of said part, means for norspaced from the respective adjacent ends of the container part a distance equal approximately to half the width of a pill to be dispensed. said width being substantially the maximum dis tance which the container part may be pro-- jected out of the cover part thereby to expose. half of the end pill of said otherA row and an entireend pill of said one row, said other side of the'container part having a discharge opening therein whereby the exposed pill of said one row may be discharged through the opening by tilting the container transversely past the angle of repose of said exposed pill and through less than 90.

3. A rectangular pill-dispensing container comprising a tubular cover part and an open" top container part slidably fitted into the cover part and having a longitudinal partition therein terminating at one end in spaced relation to the adjacent end of the container part, said partition dividing the container part into a dis'- charge passage for one row of pills and a storage passage for another row of pills, eachof said passages having a xed stop member therein between the partition and one side wall of the container part, the stop members being arranged respectively at diagonally opposite corners of 'y the container part, the inner faces of the respective stops being spaced from the respective adjacent ends of said part a distance approximately half the width of a pill to be dispensed to maintain the rows in staggered relation, said container part having a pill discharge opening in the side wall of the discharge passage extending along said side wall to a point beyond the stop member a distance approximately half the width of a pill, whereby the end pill in the discharge passage may be discharged through the adjacent opening by a slight transverse tilting of the containerthrough an angle less than f the iixed stop member remote from the opening serving also to guide pills from the storage passage into the discharge passage, and means for limiting the relative sliding movement of the parts to an amount substantially equal to the width of the pill to be dispensed.

4. In a pill-dispensing container, a container part having a bottom wall and plane side and end walls upstanding from the edges of the bottom wall, longitudinal partition therein dividing said part into a discharge compartment and a communicating storage compartment of equal size, the discharge compartment having a discharge opening at the end portion of a side wall thereof and on one side of the partition, said opening extending from an end of the compartment and being of a given length and the ,e

storage compartment having a xed stop member therein having a stop surface arranged approximately midway between the ends of the discharge opening and on the other side of the partition and a second fixed stop member at thc end of the discharge compartment remote from the discharge opening, each of the stop members having an inner face spaced longitudinally from the adjacent end wall of the container part a distance approximately half the width of a pill to be dispensed thereby staggering the row of pills in the storage compartment relatively to the row in the discharge compartment and maintaining the staggered relation of the rows when the container is tilted into a discharge position with the discharge opening lowermost, a cover part slidable on and partly embracing the container part and normally closing the discharge opening, and means for holding said parts together in slidable relation and for lim.- iting the relative sliding movement of the parts to an amount substantially equal to the width of a pill to be dispensed.

HUNA L. APFELBAUM. 

